ETEN Enlightens-Daily Current Capsules (Prelims Prep. Prominence) 20th August 2018

Disaster Management 5 ISRO satellites come to rescue of flood-hit Kerala

WHAT

Five satellites of the Indian Space Research Organisation are playing

a key role in saving lives in rain-battered Kerala , monitoring the

grave flood situation and assisting in relief work.

Earth observation satellites Oceansat-2, Resourcesat-2, Cartosat 2

and 2A and INSAT 3DR send real-time images to the ground station

which helps in assessing the extent of flooding and planning rescue

operations.

Enlighten about the relief work done by ISRO

ISRO has been using data from these satellites to provide alerts on

flooding, areas of inundation during and after rain, and weather

forecasts

Data is processed at the Decision Support Centre (DSC) at the

National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC) in Hyderabad and

disseminated periodically to the Centre and the state under the

disaster management support programme of Isro.

INSAT-3DR, an advanced meterological satellite configured with an

imaging system and an atmospheric sounder, provides data on

various parameters like temperature and humidity for weather

forecasts.

Other remote sensing satellites like Cartosat and Resourcesat send

high resolution images captured by onboard cameras that help send

out early flood warnings and map the affected areas.

Cartosat 2 and 2A can be steered along and across the track to 45

degrees for frequent imaging of a specific area.

As soon as information on a flood event is received the earliest

available satellite is programmed to collect the required data for

demarcating inundated areas.

At the DSC, the data is processed and inundation maps are prepared

with flooded and non-flooded areas marked in different colours.

The maps are disseminated to the state and central agencies

concerned, along with providing information on affected villages and

transport network, for planning relief operations.

As the satellites help in relief operations instruments deployed in the

sea are simultaneously tracking changes in the weather along the

west coast.

Data from 13 buoys deployed in the Arabian Sea is helping scientists

at the Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services

(INCOIS) in Hyderabad forecast high waves and provide wind

warnings for up to three days.

Six of the buoys have been sending data from locations close to the

coast at a depth of 25m-35m including two buoys off the coast of

Kozhikode and Kollam. The rest are deployed in the deep sea up to a

maximum depth of 3,500m.

Various parameters like wave direction, wave period and wave height

measured through the sensors in the buoys along with data collected

from satellites are used to run a forecast model.

Government Schemes Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana

WHAT

By investing just Rs 1.5 lakh per year for 15 years, you can gift your

daughter Rs 70 lakh when she turns 21 and also saves tax on the

investment while filing the Income Tax Return (ITR).

Enlighten about the scheme

The flagship Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana, which was launched by PM

Narendra Modi-led Union government in January 2015, aims at securing

the future of the girl child.

It provides triple tax benefits - no tax is levied on the amount invested,

amount earned as interest and the amount withdrawn.

One can invest as low as Rs 250/year up to maximum Rs 1.5 lakh per

annum for a period of 15 years. The account matures after the completion

of 21 years.

The Sukanya Samriddhi account may be opened by the legal guardian or

parents in the name of a beneficiary who has not attained the age of 10

years as on the date of opening of the account.

Only one account can be opened in the name of one beneficiary. In one

family, Sukanya Samriddhi Account can be opened for a maximum of

two girl children.

Deposits can be made in the account till the completion of a period of 15

years from the date of opening.

Defence India building new fighter jet

First flight of Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft expected in 2032

WHAT

The Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA), India’s next

indigenous fighter, is expected to make its first flight by 2032.

Development work on the jet is under way.

Enlighten about AMCA

The AMCA will feature geometric stealth and will initially fly with two

GE-414 engines.

After the development of develop indigenous engine, it can be replaced

with that and the first flight is expected in 2032

Military platform stealthier

There are two major ways of making a military platform stealthier.

One is geometric stealth and other is material stealth.

In geometric stealth, the shape of the aircraft is designed at such angles so

as to deflect away maximum radar waves thereby minimising its radar

cross section.

In material stealth, radar-absorbing materials are used in making the

aircraft which will absorb the radio waves thus reducing the radar

footprint.

The AMCA will initially be based on geometric stealth

The Indian Air Force has given land to the Defence Research and

Development Organisation to set up facilities for the project.

The plan is to build on the capabilities and expertise developed during the

development of the light combat aircraft (LCA) and produce a medium

fifth generation fighter aircraft.

Apart from the technologies developed from the LCA project, the new

fighter programme is important as technologies coming in through that

will flow into the AMCA project

The aircraft will be powered by the same GE-414 engine on the LCA

Mk-2 variant which is in the design phase.

This is India’s only fifth generation aircraft programme following the

decision not to go ahead with the fifth generation project with Russia.

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Agriculture The NABARD All India Rural Financial Inclusion Survey 2016-17

Half of farm households indebted

Telangana, A.P., Karnataka top the list with over 70% indebted

families

Survey highlights by NABARD

More than half the agricultural households in the country have

outstanding debt, and their average outstanding debt is almost as high as

the average annual income of all agricultural households, according to a

recent survey by the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural

Development (NABARD).

Enlighten about the Survey

The NABARD All India Rural Financial Inclusion Survey 2016-17

covered a sample of 1.88 lakh people from 40,327 rural households.

Only 48% of these are defined as agricultural households, which have at

least one member self-employed in agriculture and which received more

than ₹5,000 as value of produce from agricultural activities over the past

year, whether they possessed any land or not.

NABARD found that 52.5% of the agricultural households had an

outstanding loan on the date of the survey, and thus were considered

indebted.

For non-agricultural households in rural India, that figure was 10

percentage points lower, at only 42.8%.

Agricultural households reporting any outstanding debt also had a higher

debt liability compared with non-agricultural ones.

The average debt of an indebted agricultural household stood at

₹1,04,602 in comparison to ₹76,731 for indebted non-agricultural

households.

According to the survey, the average annual income of an agricultural

household is ₹1.07 lakh. That is barely ₹2,500 more than the average

outstanding debt of indebted farm households.

Kisan Credit Card

Only 10.5% of agricultural households were found to have a valid Kisan

Credit Card at the time of the survey.

The scheme aims to give farmers credit from the banks with a simplified

and flexible single-window procedure.

Households who had the card utilised 66% of the sanctioned credit limit

Sectors for which loans haven been taken

The biggest reason for taking loans among agricultural households was

capital expenditure for agricultural purposes, with a quarter of all loans

taken for this purpose.

While 19% of loans were taken for meeting running expenses for

agricultural purposes, another 19% were taken for sundry domestic needs.

Loans for housing and medical expenses stood at 11% and 12%,

respectively.

While all classes of farmers had debt, the highest incidence of

indebtedness came from those owning more than two hectares of land. In

that category, 60% of households are in debt.

Among small and marginal farmers owning less than 0.4 hectares,

slightly less than 50% of the households were in debt. Those with more

land were more likely to have multiple loans.

Enlighten about the State figures

The southern States of Telangana (79%), Andhra Pradesh (77%), and

Karnataka (74%) showed the highest levels of indebtedness among

agricultural households, followed by Arunachal Pradesh (69%), Manipur

(61%), Tamil Nadu (60%), Kerala (56%), and Odisha (54%).

Still dominant role of non – institutional sources

46% of the loans were taken from commercial banks, and another 10%

from self-help groups, almost 40% were taken from non-institutional

sources such as relatives, friends, moneylenders and landlords.

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Science and Technology Drones to space Internet, IISc incubates start-ups

WHAT

General Aeronautics, an Indian Institute of Science (IISc) incubated start-

up.

The start-up designs and makes unmanned aerial vehicles or drones

focused on security and civilian applications.

One application is to use these drones to transport organs faster than

ambulances for organ transplant procedures to save lives.

General Aeronautics is among a growing number of start-ups incubated

by the Society for Innovation and Development (SID) housed on the IISc

campus in Bengaluru, which aim to commercialise innovations that can

have a direct impact on society.

Moonshots

Most of the start-ups are based on moonshot ideas.

These include drones to transport organs, satellites that provide Internet

connectivity in rural areas and devices that help doctors to detect and

diagnose diseases like cancer.

The incubator, tucked away in a discreet corner of IISc’s verdant campus,

connects these deep science start-ups with customers and investors and

even helps in writing the business plans.

The company is also working with IISc to develop ‘Life Box’ a device

which can keep the heart harvested from the donor in good condition and

increase its preservation time by maintaining various parameters such as

temperature. The box would be transported to the recipient for transplant

using a drone.

SpaceX challenger/ Astrome

Astrome, a space technology company which could potentially compete

globally with tech entrepreneur Elon Musk’s SpaceX.

Astrome’s goal too is to solve the problem of connectivity by beaming

high bandwidth Internet from space.

Astrome is developing a technology that it says would cut the cost of

Internet access through satellites by 12 times.

It plans to launch 200 satellites in the next few years to low-earth-orbit to

beam reliable Internet to people living in small towns and villages.

The firm says its Internet would be available in all developing countries

and along major sea and air routes.

Sources – The Hindu , PIB, Indian Express